posted March 08, 2005 07:20 PM         

There were shadows above me at the edge of my bed. There was some kind of projection on my wall like a movie was playing on an overhead projector. It was a scary animated cartoon with weird creatures.

I was very scared but I realized since this was a Lucid Dream I could change it all if I wanted. I told myself to imagine a beautiful scenery, anything besides what was in front of me. I closed my eyes, and opened them and it was still there. I tried to change the scenery several times. Now the shadows are talking to eachother, this is when I realize this is not an ordinary OOB or Lucid dream.

Something whispers in my ear and I feel threatened that it wants to cut my fingers off and I scream for help. Then suddenly another shadow pushes the threatening shadow away and safely tucks my hands behind my back. I feel like this one shadow wanted to protect me, but I still wasn't feeling a very positive vibe at all.

I notice I'm connected to various shadows by a chord but the chord is also shadowy and dark like the figures. Some of the shadow objects I'm attached to seem like medical tools. I ask the shadow to take me somewhere else because I'm scared of this scenery.

Then I float out of body, and next to the shadows is a young man my age, but he tells me he can't do anything to help me. I can't make out details on his face but he is human.

I try to escape my room and I'm at the window. They wont let me go. I'm thrown back to my bed. The shadow is applying pressure to my head with a cloth, I feel like my forhead has been cut open with something. I again try to gain control and change the scnery in my dream but I can't. The shadows move away from me and start to speak to eachother.

I feel relieved the shadows have stopped paying attention to me and I call out for my cat, who is at home while I'm away at school. I try to bring him to me so I will be comforted. All of a sudden he is next to me, and he rubs his nose to my forhead like he usually does. THe shadows notice what is going on. Then I get scared that they will hurt him so I tell my cat to quickly go back home. Then I wake up.

posted March 08, 2005 08:54 PM         

``A sensed presence, vague gibberish spoken in one's ear, shadowy creatures moving about the room, a strange immobility, a crushing pressure and painful sensations in various parts of the body -- these are compatible not just with an assault by a primitive demon but also with probing by alien experimenters,'' Cheyne said. ``And the sensations of floating and flying account for the reports of levitation and transport to alien vessels.''

"Sleep paralysis seems to occur when the body is in REM sleep and so is paralyzed and disconnected from the brain, while the brain has emerged from sleep and is either awake or semiawake. Usually after a minute or two the spell is broken and the person is able to move again, as the brain and body re-establish their connection."

"What is going on in the brain during sleep paralysis is unclear. The person experiencing the paralysis feels completely awake and ``sees'' the room clearly, but laboratory experiments in Japan show that sometimes people experiencing sleep paralysis do not even open their eyes".

"For many sufferers, the growing research in the field is reassuring simply because it demonstrates that they are not alone in their terrifying nighttime paralysis and hallucinations."

posted March 09, 2005 04:34 AM         

And you can see by your own research that you are not alone. The article you quoted is very good at describing the process involved and the various ways it can be experienced. I would add the Astral element to many of the cases, though, just like yours.

What you experienced was an illusion, self-created. That is why the young man couldn't help you. And that is why the experience contained symbology, and fairly bluntly at that. Your subconscious was projecting key elements of your experience onto your awareness, kind of mixing an OBE with a nightmare.

The "projection" on your wall with the "scary animated cartoon with weird creatures" is a pretty direct way of saying just that. And don't forget that the shadowy figures were all connected to you by shadowy cords, a pretty strong indication that they were, in fact, your own projections, your own fears manifest. Your subconscious was projecting these symbols, which you did not understand during the experience, meaning that the experience was mostly created and managed by your subconscious, which is why you were unable to "consciously" change the scenery.

Did that make sense?

Oh, and your cat ... right out of the books, I tell you! That is not the first time I've heard a story like that.

This whole experience is a step in the right direction, believe it or not. It is a lesson in thought control, in managing inner fear, of the relationship in the astral between thought and manifestation ... instant. And it is, more importantly, a lesson in perception, a lesson about reality and illusion.

posted March 09, 2005 04:36 PM         

Great explanation for the "projections" I saw on the wall. I would have never put that together! This was a very different kind of experience then the others, and I hope that I'm going in the right direction.

I think at the end of the whole thing I finally gained control when I made my cat appear. SO that is an improvement.

ALso my sleeping patterns have been way off since I've been in college. This all actually happened during a nap between the hours of 4 and 6!! And I've been sick so that might explain my lack of mind control.

posted March 10, 2005 03:43 AM         

Oh, and about your cat ... you said, "I think at the end of the whole thing I finally gained control when I made my cat appear. SO that is an improvement." This is definately a step in the right direction and you did gain some control, but it is kind of funny ... and I don't mean to short-circuit what you have accomplished so far, because you are accomplishing ... but I tend to think your cat was one of the few elements of your experience which was "real", so I doubt you made him appear (can one make a cat do anything? ). He came because you called to him. Cats can do this, quite naturally, apparently. What do you think about that? I think it's pretty cool.

posted March 11, 2005 03:51 AM         

The next time you find yourself in the astral and run into something shadowy, dark, negative ... think love and light at it. Direct the positive energy at it, into it. Know it will work. Watch what happens.